The charity helping northern state students reach our best universities

History of the Institute

The Linacre Institute was formally incorporated in January 2014 by a group of trustees who had been the beneficiaries of exceptional teachers, often at state schools, and now wanted to put something back.

It is named after the humanist scholar and doctor Thomas Linacre, who went from obscure origins in Derbyshire to help shape our modern world. Tutor to Erasmus and founder of the Royal College of Physicians, he sought to create a society in which all citizens were freed from ignorance and could play their full part. His epitaph sums up the ethos of the Institute that bears his name: “Friend of learning; loved by men of all classes”.